Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta!

Before she left, she got up on her toes and kissed his cheek sweetly. "Go ahead and fight the attraction you feel for me. I have time. Just know that we will end up together. Buuuuut… I won't mention this again. There's no reason to avoid me to get away from this conversation. The next move is yours. Just know your queen is in danger." She then spun and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

She didn't know what possessed her to tell him the truth, either of them, but again she felt the need to mess with him.

And her being in danger was true. She was very much in danger; it just wasn't going to get the better of her. The confrontation with Diamond would end in death. She just had no intention of letting it be hers.

Mamoru went over to his cabinet, opened it, and pulled out his chess pieces. He then gingerly retrieved the white queen, looked down, and looked down at her face. He didn't know why what she said to him struck him so hard. Many women had tried the same tactic she had. The truth was, though, it didn't feel like a cheap tactic to him. She was right about one thing for sure, he was fighting his attraction to her.

He put away the chess pieces, every one except the queen, and tucked her in his pocket. She was something he was going to have to consider.

He sighed and walked to his balcony, having slid open the door. He stared down at the city with the lights all aglow that night. She said she was in danger. If she was right about Kunzite, that meant she really was. She called him a cop killer to his face. Not only that, but it meant that he was a sniper.

His stomach dropped at the idea of her getting hurt. He wanted to keep her safe.

He quickly made a decision. He would talk to Yamato and get any suggestions he had. He wasn't a detective, but he felt the most comfortable going to him with questions.

Mamoru walked into the morgue that next morning and opened up the compartment containing the dirty cop. He pulled out the shelf and paled. Usagi was right, after all. Someone had tampered with the body.

It was subtle, but the sheet wasn't on the way Yamato had insisted he tuck it every time. Something he learned quickly.

It couldn't be a coincidence that she had just given Kunzite information about the murdered man. He then quickly called security, and sure enough, there had been a "random" system shut down last night after the poker game.

He reached into his pocket and clutched at the queen he had tucked there, and his heart ached. He couldn't let her die. He wasn't sure what she would be to him, but he knew he needed her alive now.

Yamato walked into the room and noticed Mamoru looking down at the corpse. "He's a bit of a conundrum. There isn't any family left to claim him. On top of all that, it's embarrassing for the higher-ups to admit we had Wiseman's son working for us."

Mamoru nodded and pointed at the way he was covered, "I need to talk to you confidentially about something. I strongly suspect that the security 'blip' last night covered up a break-in. One that involved verifying the tattoo on him."

"That's quite a lot to claim. What causes you to believe that?"

"Who–is the real question. She's four foot eleven and blond with blue eyes."

"Beautiful?"

Mamoru smiled gently, "she's the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

"And she makes you believe there was a break-in?"

"No, she claims to know who the murderer was. She confronted him about it last night, and based on the fact that the body has been disturbed makes me think he wanted to make sure who he killed with his own eyes."

Yamato frowned, "I'm not following."

"Can I take you somewhere for coffee after work and tell you the whole story?"

That was how Mamoru and Yamato ended up having coffee together, tucked in the corner of a restaurant, whispering. He laid it all out to his mentor, from how he met the guys and began playing poker with them to what happened up to her kissing him on the cheek last night. He didn't tell him about her promise that they were meant to be together or his intense attraction to her.

Still, Yamato wasn't fooled. "It's more than her just being beautiful. You're drawn to her."

Mamoru sighed, "yes, I am. Do you think it's coloring my perception of the situation?"

His mentor laughed and shook his head, "do you think it's in you? You don't strike me as the type of man to let an attraction throw your good sense out the window."

"But that's just it!" he replied in frustration. "I can't get her out of my head from the moment I met her. I've never-" He was cut off by laughing.

"You misunderstood me. Even if your head is a mess over her, does that mean you can't analyze the situation?"

"She says she's in danger," Mamoru said sadly. "I don't know if I could be objective after the moment she said that."

"So be a man."

"What?"

"Make your decision and stand behind it completely. Diamond is a monster and incredibly dangerous, and she just accused one of his hitmen that he's a killer to his face. I don't think she's wrong." Yamato took a sip of his cooling coffee and frowned at the tabletop. "You see that there's something she isn't saying to you."

"Yes, she's not afraid of Kunzite, and I don't know why that is…" Mamoru mirrored him by taking a sip of his coffee too. "I'm scared for her, though."

Yamato leaned back in his chair. "Then let's help her."

"Us?"

"You know I respect you, and I have come to care about you. If this woman is as special as she sounds, I'm in. I'm a sucker for a mystery and a good love story."

Mamoru looked at him steadily, "you're sure this is a love story?"

Yamato nodded, smiling. "It's that or a tragedy. This has all the makings of a love story. So let's help the damsel in distress. I'm okay with being a side character."

Mamoru was still reeling from that conversation later that night as he sat alone at home. Yamato, a man he deeply respected, didn't believe he was throwing out his good sense by being powerfully attracted to Usagi. That was a huge relief.

He pulled the chess piece he still carried out of his pocket and looked down at the queen. With his thumb, he caressed her face and thought of Usagi. She was just so lovely to him.

Yes, he admitted he didn't know much about her yet, but he wanted to. He wanted to learn all of her secrets and, for the first time in his life, he wanted to share all of his deepest secrets. The ones he didn't even like to think about himself.

He wondered where his good sense was when he started to be inextricably drawn to her so quickly. But he had to admit that there was just something about her that drew him in. He was sure it couldn't just be her pretty face. He'd met pretty girls before. Something about her was unique, and he was sure of that fact to his very bones.

That week was the first time he ever looked away from the counter at the arcade every time he walked in. Instead of looking for Motoki, he looked around for Usagi first.

On the second day, she was there, and he couldn't help himself, he smiled at her. The smile he received back warmed his whole body, even down to his toes. He lost the fight against a blush and turned his head away from her in embarrassment.

Shortly after, he sat down at the counter and took his first sip of coffee; Usagi appeared at his side. He marveled over how open she was with her expression of joy to see him. She seemed so free and innocent to him. How could a woman like her possibly be in danger? His brain automatically supplied the answer, calling out a killer to his face.

She was very animated when she looked up at him and placed her small hand gently on his arm. "It's good to see you."

He looked over at her with genuine warmth in his eyes. "Staying out of trouble?" he teased.

"What would be the fun in that?!" She said, laughing. She then sat next to him and smiled at Motoki as he made her milkshake. Mamoru didn't notice he frowned at her when she did that, but Motoki teased him mercilessly about that later.

He did realize the question he asked her was to draw her attention, and the warmth it brought him back to him. "I never asked what it is you do."

She turned her full attention to him and replied, "Nothing right now. Isn't that awful?" She laughed and then added, "I'm new to town. I know some people here, but I decided that I'm going to pick up some classes at University once the new year starts. For now, I'm just doing my hobby of private investigating."

"I wish you wouldn't." Mamoru grew serious. "I don't want you to be in danger."

She smiled at him softly with joy in her eyes. "I promise, I might be in danger, but it won't win. I'm careful."

"Like hell you are!" He yelled. "You accused him to his face!"

"So you think I'm right now?"

"I know you are. He checked out the body to verify who he had killed. Someone broke into the police station!"

"Good," she said, relieved.

"How in the world is that good?!"

She smiled and set her hand on his leg to calm him down. It succeeded in sending a massive shot of desire rolling through his body, overwhelming him like a tsunami. She said, "he will become sick over what he did."

"He killed the son of a monster."

"To most, yes, but life is complicated. Wiseman did protect some, and that fact matters to him."

Mamoru looked into her eyes. He couldn't pretend her touch wasn't affecting him anymore. "What is this between us?"

She ran her finger down his thigh, and the strength of his arousal increased. "Since you are asking, I'll say this, we're epic, and we're powerful. The harder you fight this, and you are fighting this, the harder you'll snap when you give in to what we are to each other. I find that exciting."

He breathed harshly through his nose, "I don't really even know you yet. How can I feel like this?"

"We're made for each other. Everything you discover will make you love me more, and the same goes for me."

He frowned, "There's bitterness and darkness in me. You won't."

She gently and lovingly shook her head. "Nothing can get in between our love, and as far as secrets go, mine is so much bigger. And still, I trust you with it already. You're just not ready to hear it yet. You will be soon. When you do, you'll know you can trust me with anything."

"Everything you say is everything I want."

"I'm yours, Mamoru. Just tell me when you want to claim me."

As he lay down to sleep that night, all he could think of was claiming her. He wanted to take her completely and powerfully.